Go Green with GreenJinn: Stop Food Waste

Today is Stop Food Waste Day, which means we’re going to be talking all things food waste with another post in our sustainability series. ♻️

Stop Food Waste Day is a global awareness day focused on fighting food waste by empowering us with skills and tips to make the most of the food we have. 💪 It is estimated that 33% of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year and that we can attribute 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions each year to food loss and waste. Those are quite startling figures but fear not because change is possible. Today Didi from Sustainable Deeds is sharing with you, her top tips to reduce food waste in your own kitchen!

1. Write a shopping list!

Modern life has become so busy and full of ‘convenience’ options that many of us no longer shop weekly for groceries, but instead shop ad-hoc here and there to suit our hectic routines. The humble shopping list is also something that many of us have shunned in favour of buying what we fancy on the day. Not only is this an expensive way to shop but it is also a key contributor to the amount of food waste that each of us generates.

2. ‘Use me first’ containers

Our love of shopping whenever it is convenient can often result in us buying fresh foods, whilst the same items have disappeared to the back of the fridge to shrivel up! To combat this, I have created two ‘use me first’ containers, one in my fridge and the other on my kitchen counter. Every time I use half a pepper or quarter of an onion, for example, I pop the remainder in the relevant ‘use me first’ box. Then next time I come to cook something, I head straight to those boxes to check what produce needs using up. Keeping these perishable items in one place ensures that they do not get lost and therefore wasted.

3. Use your freezer

Freezers are often thought of as the place to keep quick oven-ready food like chips and pizzas, but a freezer can be so much more! In my household, we freeze all sorts. For example, half a tin of tomatoes if we don’t need to use a whole can, and the same with coconut milk. We also keep a freezer bag or container for vegetable scraps that can later be used to make soups or stocks. Each time you have sad-looking veg or a broccoli stalk too many, pop it in the freezer rather than throwing it out and you will have the makings of a super tasty meal!

4. Compost

There will always be some food waste that can not be avoided. Whilst we try to ‘Compl-eat’ things like carrots by not peeling them, I am not going to tell you to eat your onion skins and banana peels! For the fruit and veg scraps and used tea and coffee grinds that are inevitable, please try and compost these items. If you have a garden, then you can buy or build a really simple compost bin using materials from your local garden centre or DIY store.

5. Get creative in the kitchen

I thought I’d end on a tasty note. A great way to combat food waste is to get more creative in your cooking, baking, and preserving. The past year may have made us all sick to death of banana bread! But, I have another clever way to use those bananas that are lurking at bottom of the fruit bowl. This does take some prep work, but it is so worth it for the delicious result. Sad-looking bananas make excellent ‘Nice’ cream, a super simple take on traditional ice cream! To create this dessert, simply chop up your bananas and pop them in the freezer for at least a few hours.

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Header image sourced from Stop Food Waste Day